The draft for the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will take place on December 12 (today) at the High-Performance Centre in Lahore.
As many as 443 foreign and 495 local players will be available for selection for the 20-over league.
West Indies’ explosive batter Chris Gayle, South Africa’s David Miller, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, New Zealand’s Colin Munro, England’s Liam Livingstone and Alex Hales are some of the biggest names that will enter the draft.
During the draft, each of the six franchises will pick three players from the Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories, while five players in the Silver category and two players in the Emerging and Supplementary categories, each.
Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Platinum category, followed by the reigning champions Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Each franchise has retained eight players, while they will pick 10 more players, including two supplementary picks during the draft.
Renewed categories
In previous seasons, the franchises themselves used to distribute their players into categories. However, for the upcoming edition, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has performed this duty.
Prolific wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, who was also the captain of Sultans in the last season and led the franchise to their maiden title, has been promoted to the Platinum category from Silver. Moreover, Asif Ali and Haris Rauf have also been placed in the top category.
Meanwhile, Karachi Kings’ Mohammad Amir and Peshawar Zalmi’s Kamran Akmal have been relegated to Diamond and Gold categories from Platinum and Diamond categories, respectively.
Transfers
Multan Sultans have traded two of their star players, Shahid Afridi and James Vince, to Quetta Gladiators in exchange for a Diamond and Silver pick. Moreover, Islamabad United have traded their batting all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed with budding wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan.
PSL Schedule
The seventh season of the glittering league is scheduled to kick off from January 27 at the National Stadium Karachi, while the final of the tournament will be played on February 27 at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
The event will feature 34 action-packed contests and both Karachi and Lahore will host 17 games each.
